"The glory of young men is their strength; And the beauty of old men is the hoary [gray] head." - (Pro. 20:29).
A grandmother and her granddaughter, whose face was peppered with bright red freckles, spent the day at the zoo. Children were standing in a line to get their faces painted by an artist who was drawing figures of various animals on their cheeks. When the freckled-faced little girl approached the painter one boy in front of her thoughtlessly said, "You've got so many freckles, there's no place to paint a picture on your face!" Of course, this completely embarrassed the little girl, and her head drooped in shame. Wisely, her grandmother took her granddaughter's face in her hands and kneeling next to her lovingly said, "I love your freckles. I think freckles are beautiful. Why, when I was a little girl like you I always wanted freckles." "Really, grandmother?" the little girl said, lifting her face to gaze into her grandmother's. "Why, surely. Just name one thing that's prettier than freckles?" The little girl peered into the old woman's smiling face and said, "Wrinkles."
What a wonderful story of reciprocal love this is! How marvelous it is when those who are filled with the wisdom of age can still see the beauty in those who are younger and have a lot to learn; and how incredible it is when those who are young can appreciate the beauty and wisdom of those who are older and have much to convey to them from the lessons of life they have learned. God loves all His children regardless of their age, and He sees the beauty in each one of us. This is good to know, because, after all, we've certainly done a good job through our ignorance and sin to flaw our appearance to a holy God.
With such a heart of love, may we try to see the beauty and worth of all God's children, young and old, even as flawed as we all are.
Lonnie Ritchie